The billionaire Dwelling Depot cofounder and outspoken supporter of Donald Trump, Bernard “Bernie” Marcus, has died, in accordance with a firm assertion. He was 95.
Marcus, a former pharmacist, was described as “a grasp service provider and a genius with customer support” who was “unparalleled in generosity and goodwill” within the assertion by the corporate.
“The complete Dwelling Depot household is deeply saddened by the demise of our cofounder Bernie Marcus,” the assertion reads. “We owe an immeasurable debt of gratitude to Bernie.”
The billionaire made his fortune by establishing the Dwelling Depot with Arthur Clean in 1978. The house enchancment retail big started in Atlanta and has since grown to greater than 2,000 shops nationwide and a inventory market valuation of practically $400bn.
Marcus himself had a web value of about $7.4bn, in accordance with Bloomberg’s Billionaire Index. He was a significant contributor to the US Republican occasion, particularly to Trump.
He and his spouse, Billi, donated $7m to committees supporting the success of Trump’s 2016 marketing campaign and one other $7.9m to Republicans within the 2018 midterm elections.
Marcus once more gave greater than $1m to help Trump on this election cycle as of September. He had additionally donated thousands and thousands of {dollars} to the campaigns of different Republican politicians, together with the late John McCain and the Florida governor, Ron DeSantis.
In a 2022 interview with the Monetary Occasions, Marcus stated he was “nervous about capitalism” and claimed as a result of “socialism” was spreading within the US, “no person works. No one provides a rattling. ‘Simply give it to me. Ship me cash. I don’t wish to work – I’m too lazy, I’m too fats, I’m too silly.’”
The {hardware} tycoon discovered himself in the midst of a boycott in 2019 after his pledge to help Trump discouraged many shoppers from patronizing Dwelling Depot shops. The Dwelling Depot tried to distance itself from its then retired cofounder.
Marcus served as Dwelling Depot’s CEO till 1997 and was the corporate’s chair till his retirement in 2002.
He and his spouse had been additionally concerned in a number of philanthropic causes and had three youngsters.
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